AI must not ignore human rights, Europe needs a euro stablecoin, and more
Alexandra Reeve Givens and Karen Kornbluh
WASHINGTON, DC – In July, the Trump administration held an event titled “Winning the AI Race,” where it unveiled its AI Action Plan. Like the billion-dollar data-center deals announced during President Donald Trump’s trip this past May to the Persian Gulf, the plan is meant to enhance American leadership in AI. But since neither the plan nor those earlier announcements mentioned human rights, it’s fair to question what it even means for the US to “win” the AI race.
Many in Washington and Silicon Valley simply assume that American technology is inherently – almost by definition – aligned with democratic values. As OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told Congress this past May, “We want to make sure democratic AI wins over authoritarian AI.” This may be a good sentiment, but new technological systems don’t protect human rights by default. Policymakers and companies must take proactive steps to ensure that AI deployment meets certain standards and conditions – as already happens in many other industries.
Lucrezia Reichlin highlights a key shortcoming in the European Union’s strategy for strengthening its autonomy in payments.
Gene Burrus points to proposed legislation that could restore competition to the mobile app market.